


Cool Cat

by barrylen



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Bed-sharing, First Kiss, Fluff, Leonard is a kitten, M/M, Mild Humor, it's all very cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-23
Updated: 2018-08-23
Packaged: 2019-07-01 11:24:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15773154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barrylen/pseuds/barrylen
Summary: Leonard Snart is turned into a kitten. Barry handles it well, all things considered.





	Cool Cat

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe I wrote this. I apologize for the cheesy title. :P
> 
> Enjoy! <3

“No dry food, I _got it_. No need to scratch me again, you menace. Beef and chicken or chicken and tuna?” Barry frowned as he considered the cat food options in front of him. “What about turkey in gravy?”

The tiny meow next to his ear answered approximately nothing of what he’d been asking, and he sighed. He took out a bunch from each flavor and threw them into the basket.

“Hope you’re satisfied,” he muttered on the way to the express checkout, but couldn’t quite suppress a grin when a purr rumbled into his ear.

 

*

 

When Lisa Snart had barged into S.T.A.R. Labs that morning—on Barry’s day off, mind—and pushed a tiny kitten with soft, gray fur into his hands he hadn’t expected that he’d be the one to take it home.

“ _Fix him_ ,” she snapped. Barry wasn’t even wearing his Flash suit. He threw a helpless look at Cisco, who had a cup of coffee raised halfway to his mouth, lips parted as he stared at Lisa.

The kitten seemed to glare at Barry before sinking its surprisingly sharp claws into his wrist. He gritted his teeth.

“You know,” he said, carefully prying the kitten’s tiny paws off his wrist, “if something’s wrong with it, you should take it to a vet. Caitlin’s not in today.”

Not to say that she’d probably be there in two seconds if they told her they had a kitten that needed to be looked at, but she still wasn’t on the best terms with Lisa. And it was best not to provoke her _frosty_ side at the moment.

“That’s not—” Lisa closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath as if she’d been close to exploding. “I don’t need a vet. I need someone to look after him and figure out a way to turn him back while I go waste the bitch who did this.”

Barry shook his head, not able to comprehend what she was saying.

Cisco finally seemed to have regained his wits. “What are you talking about, Lisa?”

She clenched her jaw and nodded at the kitten.

“That’s my brother.”

 

*

 

So apparently there was a meta in Central City who could turn people into animals.

“That’s a new one,” Cisco said as he wrote an algorithm to track mentions of the meta on social media to get a read on possible locations. “We should probably be happy that she turned him into a cat and not, like, a cow. She doesn’t have a name yet, does she?”

Barry bit his lip so he wouldn’t snort when Lisa scowled at him. Cisco’s eyes widened in alarm, and he turned quickly back to his screen.

Barry sat on the ground leaning against the wall, watching kitten-Snart toddle around the lab and butt his nose into things, still so uncoordinated in the unfamiliar body that he stumbled around like a real kitten.

It was adorable. Not that Barry would say that out loud—he’d like to keep his fingers, thank you very much.

“When will we be able to go find her?” Lisa asked Cisco. Her arms were crossed and she was tapping her heel on the ground impatiently.

“Shouldn’t be too long.”

Barry straightened up when Snart changed directions and came barrelling toward him, almost face-planting into the floor before Barry caught him in his hands. He looked up at Barry and gave a pathetic meow.

Barry’s cough to mask a laugh came out strangely squeaky. He was rewarded with a set of claws in his hand.

“You’re a feisty one,” he muttered, hissing when the claws sank in further. “Ow, _ow_ , all right, sorry!”

Lisa was watching them, a thoughtful look on her face. “Maybe he’s hungry,” she mused. “I didn’t have anything for him at home before I came here.”

Barry raised an eyebrow. “You think he’d eat cat food?”

They both looked down at the kitten. The kitten looked back.

“Only one way to find out, is there? Why don’t you take him food-shopping and Cisco and I are gonna keep trying to find this meta?” Her sweet smile meant that she was definitely up to something that none of them approved of, but Barry didn’t have the heart to call her out on it.

“Fine,” he said. “Keep me updated, will you?”

Lisa didn’t bother to reply, having turned back to Cisco already. Barry stood up and held the kitten up in front of his face.

“You hungry?”

Kitten-Leonard’s tail perked up; that might be a yes. Barry tried not to smile and failed.

 

*

 

“Sorry, I don’t have cat-approved bowls,” Barry said as he pulled the kitten from the hood of his jacket and set him gently down on the kitchen counter in his apartment, taking two small bowls out of a cupboard. He filled one of them with water and set it down next to Leonard, huffing a laugh when he stuck his face right into it, trying to figure out how to drink. “So what do you want to eat?”

He opened one of the cans, spooning half of it into the clean bowl and putting the rest into the fridge. “Can’t go wrong with turkey, right?”

Leonard actually ate the food, which Barry hadn’t expected. The kitten-smacks when he chewed were so cute that he couldn’t stop himself from taking a video on his phone, texting it to Cisco.

A reply came back five minutes later. _Lisa said you’re taking such good care of him, you can keep him until we figure out how to turn him back ;)_

“Damn you, Cisco,” Barry muttered under his breath. Then he took another picture of the kitten.

Somehow, he couldn’t find it in himself to be annoyed.

 

*

 

Iris laughed at him over the phone when she’d pried the truth out of him about why he couldn’t meet her and Eddie for coffee.

“Oh, this is too good,” she said, giggling, “I’m coming over. Eddie’s got some important paper work he has to finish, anyway.”

“Iris, I don’t think—”

“Nope.” Her voice was far too gleeful for his liking. “I’m gonna stop at the pet store on my way.”

“What could you possibly want at the—” He broke off when he realized she’d hung up. “Dammit.”

Kitten-Leonard chirped, ears twitching, and Barry sighed as he picked him up to sit on his lap. “I hope you’re okay with Iris coming over.” His tail flicked irritably, and Barry frowned. “Be nice to her, all right?”

Leonard looked like he was trying very hard not to roll his eyes.

Barry needn’t have worried, though—Iris was delighted by the kitten, and Leonard took to her better than he had to Barry, especially when he saw that she’d brought a feather teaser toy.

“It contains catnip,” she said to Barry, eyes glittering conspiratorially.

And Leonard _loved_ it. Iris sat down on the couch to play with him, bursting into laughter every time she seemed to remember that the kitten clawing wildly at the little stuffed bird on a string was _Leonard Snart_. Barry watched them from the other end of the couch, arms crossed. Iris rolled her eyes when she looked at him.

“Stop moping, Barry.”

“I’m not moping!”

It was quite possible that he was moping.

 

*

 

Leaving Leonard outside of the bathroom after Iris had left turned out to be a problem.

“I can’t believe you’re actually behaving like a real cat,” Barry said, dragging a hand down his face. “I really do need to take a shower now.”

The whiny meow he got in response when he started to close the bathroom door tugged at his heartstrings.

“Oh, goddammit,” he muttered, and picked Leonard up to hold him in front of his face. “You’re terrible.”

Leonard growled. It was the least intimidating sound Barry’d ever heard.

He set him down next to the sink in the bathroom, pulling his shirt off after minor hesitation. Leonard made grabby claws at it, so he gave it to him to play with, all the while shaking his head.

This was too fucking weird.

“No peeping,” he said sternly, keeping the rest of his clothes on until he was in the shower. He was just glad that the shower curtain wasn’t see-through.

When he was finished and stepped back onto the tiles, towel wrapped around his hips, Leonard was curled up on his shirt with his eyes squeezed shut, snuffling little kitten-snores.

Barry did what any responsible person in his situation would do, and went to get his phone to take another picture. Or two… or five…

 

*

 

Kitten-Leonard was in Barry’s bed, lying on an unused pillow.

“Are you sure?” Barry asked as he crawled under the covers on the other side. “I’m kinda scared I’ll squash you in my sleep.”

Leonard flicked his tail and stretched his paws out to brandish his claws, a warning if he’d ever seen one.

“Got it,” Barry said. He sighed and licked his lips, watching as the kitten blinked at him. He reached out to stroke lightly over his tiny, tiny nose, insides growing warm when Leonard let him without so much as a hiss. “I hope you won’t hate me after this,” he said and ran his hand through the soft fur, stroking behind his little ear, “‘cause I like you very much.”

The kitten’s eyes fell slowly shut and he stretched again, wriggling until he was nestled in the crook of Barry’s arm. If Barry got a bit misty-eyed, well, nobody had to know.

He startled awake hours later, heart pounding when he realized that he was holding someone who was decidedly _not_ kitten-shaped. He went still, not daring to move a muscle lest Leonard notice that he was… Oh god, _naked_ in Barry’s bed, and that Barry was spooning him.

He was _so_ dead.

“Mmph,” Leonard said intelligibly. Barry held his breath. “You gonna let me freeze or can I have a piece of that blanket you’re hogging?”

Barry gulped, eyes wide as he rearranged the blanket so that it was covering the both of them. Leonard hummed and tugged lightly at Barry’s wrist until he acquiesced and wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him closer until they were flush together, Leonard’s back to Barry’s front.

Barry huffed a hysterical laugh into the crook of his neck.

“Don’t you ever mention this.” Leonard sounded sleepy, voice drawling more than usual.

Barry smiled against his skin. He was going to do no such thing. “Sure.”

“Liar,” Leonard said, but he didn’t sound upset. Thank god.

Barry fell asleep to Leonard’s thumb stroking soft shapes into his wrist.

 

*

 

When Barry’s alarm woke him up, Leonard was gone from the bed, sheets gone cold. He exhaled a shuddery sigh and flopped onto his back, staring at the ceiling. Of course he was gone. Barry shouldn’t have expected anything different.

He should probably be glad that Leonard hadn’t killed him in his sleep…

He jerked upright when he heard the distinct sound of a spatula scraping against metal.

“Oh my god,” he said faintly and sped into the kitchen just long enough to see that Leonard had stolen some of Barry’s clothes to wear and was making breakfast— _pancakes_ —before he flashed into the bathroom.

“Oh my god,” he repeated to his face in the mirror, muffling a giggle against his hand, then sped through brushing his teeth and changing his clothes.

“Good morning,” he said when he stepped back into the kitchen, his voice sounding a lot steadier than he felt.

“Indeed,” Leonard deadpanned instead of echoing the greeting like a normal person.

But, well. None of this was normal.

Barry wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans and waited until Leonard turned to him with a heaping plate of fresh pancakes in his hands. He set it down on the table, as a thank you of sorts, Barry guessed.

“I should probably leave.”

 _Don’t_ , Barry wanted to say, but he just nodded tightly.

Leonard stepped up to him, considering him with a contemplative look on his face.

“Hey, Barry.”

“Mm?”

“Thank you.”

Leonard reached out to slide a hand over the side of his neck, holding him in place. Barry’s breath caught. He wasn’t gonna—Oh, god. He was.

He was leaning in, and then his lips were on Barry’s, soft but insistent. Barry inhaled sharply, and Leonard pulled back, gauging his reaction. Whatever he saw made him smirk, and he cupped Barry’s face with both hands to pull him back in.

This time Barry was prepared, and he kissed back with vigor, sneaking in a bit of tongue, breathless when they broke apart.

“Don’t you want to stay a little longer?” he blurted out.

The corner of Leonard’s mouth twitched up, like he’d been waiting for that. What an ass. “I could be persuaded.”

Barry tipped his head so their foreheads bumped together. “I, um.” He cleared his throat. “I’m kind of glad you were turned into a cat.”

There was a short pause.

“Me, too,” Leonard whispered, then, like a secret. Barry’s face split into a grin before he closed the space between them for another lingering kiss.

He might have to send that meta a gift basket—containing lots and lots of canned cat food.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos make my world go round.
> 
> Thanks for reading! <3
> 
> (The tumblr post for this fic is [here](https://barrylen.tumblr.com/post/177303773215/cool-cat-pairing-barry-allenleonard-snart).)


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